where the hell was I blog...?
first of all, if you're reading this that means you're far more patient a reader than I would be. Thanks for that. That's assuming anyone is reading this.
I have attempted to sit down and write a blog about recent events and travel and all sorts of other crap but it's either the first thing out the window when time is short (and it's always short) or the last thing I'm able to do when sleep is non-existent (which has been fairly often) so the photos have been a nice placeholder and I'll let you infer as much or as little as you like from those.
Seriously, I had to go back and read my own blog to remember what's been going on lately so I'll try and catch up as quickly as possible with the renewed promise of blogging at least regularly, if not daily.
Creature Feature/Survivors of the Undead Plague - I love this show.
I'm already done with my part in the whole run (in the booth this year) but it was a great time, as always. Not only is Creature Feature one of my favorite weird things but SOTUP is hands down one the best things in the world to be in the booth for - and people's reaction to me being back in the booth has been almost as great as being back there itself.
The whole improv tech thing has been my deal for a long while but only lately have I started getting the sack to take some ownership of it and it's always great when people enjoy something you're having fun doing and are actually enthusiastic about what strange talent you have. Thanks for letting me play, it was a blast.
The helicopter crashing into the church steeple was incredible. At least in my brain.
Improv A Go Go - back, and then gone, and then back, and then gone again.
My usual return for the year was cut short into a return for a week but I'm back again this Sunday and trying to cling to Sundays in Minneapolis for what little remains of our fall season.
The schedule is now on a Google Calendar HERE and we're still trying to build a permanent, easy to find and access source of information for the show.
In the meantime you should all be visiting www.minneapolisimprov.com
Twin Cities Improv Festival - Now Accepting Submissions from ass-kickers to our kick-ass festival. Go there, click on the logo, get the PDF and get it done early. What a concept.
Travel - I could so easily be a spy. Or a drug mule. Or The Drifter.
I was in Las Vegas, it was great as works trips go and I managed to snap some good pics (especially for a 2 megapixel phone camera) and got some time to walk around with the boss, have some drinks, talk some business and eat a really really good cheeseburger.
On the return trip I ended up stuck at the Las Vegas airport for no less than 7.5 hours with everyone I know sending me messages saying I should go to the strip, nevermind the fact that I was dragging all my luggage. It certainly wouldn't be the strangest thing on the sidewalk in that town. Regardless, I opted to sit and read since I rarely get the chance (tried tapping out a blog on my phone and gave up, plus the Las Vegas airport has no TVs, only slot machines. when a flight leaves and there's nobody in the concourse it's silent as a graveyard. spooky. Better for reading) and discovered the single worst possible scenario for sleep, it goes like this:
lay down on the hard floor in a crowded, noisy room. get 2 hours of really poor "sleep". Get up and do something that requires actual brainpower and attention for about 20-35 minutes.
"Sleep" in moving aircraft full of noise and drunk people leaving Las Vegas for 2.5 hours. Get up and do something that requires focus and attention and physical action for roughly 45 minutes.
Get home and try to get to sleep in the 45 minutes before the kids wake up and want you to play with them because you've been gone all week. If your wife is awesome enough to let you sleep in instead of step in and take over with the kids like you should, buy her roses. That reminds me.... Anyway.
After 3 days away I managed to be home for right around 36 hours and then leave again.
Off to LA for the short but completely surreal trip.
Landed in Los Angeles on Wednesday about mid-afternoon with my counterpart from work, checked into our hotel, checked into the venue, found out they had lost our equipment and then went to catch a show.
Mr McNeil took care of us at iO (good man, as always), we had a couple and saw some really fun sets and I ran into some friends as well, making the whole thing a really nice break from the work travel routine.
Got a decent amount of sleep at the hotel (who gave me a "smoking room", which apparently means "smells like the inside of a bong" in Hollywood) and dove into the parallel dimension in which we would spend the rest of the work time.
We ran the charity silent auction for Virgin Atlantic on this trip, which meant a guest list full of huge names of people all across the talent/money spectrum. At the last minute (meaning the night before), it seems Mr. Branson (who was hosting the event) informed everyone, including the event organizers, that instead of coming he was going to set a world record for crossing the Atlantic in a sailboat...but still wanted to address the guests. So while we were doing our thing they were scrambling to set up a reliable connection to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that was up to the standards of a crazy billionaire. You think your boss pulls some shit? Try that.
The hosts ended up being Charlize Theron and Salma Hayek - so that was nothing short of totally ok with every single guy on the crew and silenced a lot of grumbling about last minute telecom needs.
The show was 100% pure Hollywood strange. Charlize Theron is 9 fucking feet tall (and yes, just as damn good looking in person), Salma Hayek is short (and yes....), Neve Campbell was breathtaking and Buzz Aldrin was a fucking jerk.
Yes, I said it. The guy was a dick. A total dick.
We worked from 9am - 2am and then retreated to get something to eat on planet Earth before retiring to our rooms for exactly 35 minutes before heading back to the airport for the return trip. Two airplane rides worth of sleep is no replacement for that thing I hear people refer to as actual "sleep" so I returned home a complete wreck...again.
Almost through the new Neal Stephenson book, which is fucking unreal and makes my brain hurt. Reading his writing is like having someone else's genius shoved into your brain and there's no room for it but it's fantastic fun for some reason.
In this book he actually invented an entire world, complete with a sociological study of people over a millenia. It's so obviously drawing parallels with "our" world that it seems stupid that he went through the trouble - until you get to the point where it becomes obvious that even that feeling is part of the story. Total Mindfuck.
I am 600+ pages in and just realized I'm essentially reading a meta-book and my reactions to it are part of the meta-storyline.
That kind of crazy genius. Still so good.
That was yesterday. It already seems like it must have been a month ago and it seems like the last time I went out with the wife was our wedding anniversary in August so I'm very excited to say that I've spent today just being home with the family and tonight we'll be out on a "date". Gotta get some roses....
I'll see you all on the blogscape and hope to see all of you that are left reading this at the show on Sunday. it's the "Halloween" edition of the IAGG - no blood this year but there will be clowns.
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